What You Desire Most
by HBPrinzejr
Summary: With the youngest of their children now at Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny are looking forward to some time alone. Harry finds himself in an unexpected new relationship that threatens to tear apart everything they've built since the war.


_A/N: I've been reading fic for over 10 years and finally convinced myself that I could write it too. I'm looking forward to flexing my creativity and developing my characters and this story. I don't know if anyone will read this, but, if you do, I'd love to hear your feedback. This is currently a work in progress and I'll continue posting as it's written so if you enjoy it pls come back for more!_

***

Harry startled awake in a cold sweat, the rushing sound of Avada Kedavra still ringing in his ears. His hand instinctively made its way to his forehead, touching the scar that hadn't ached in nearly 20 years. He rubbed his eyes as his cluttered office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement came into focus. Or at least as much focus as he could manage before he finally managed to feel out his glasses, hidden beneath a stack of papers he had managed to knock over as he bolted upright in his chair.

He knew his promotion to Head of the Department would be a lot of responsibility, but he couldn't remember anyone telling him that he would nearly forget what it felt like to sleep in his own bed. He took a sip of tea and immediately spat it back out. It was cold and bitter, which was not surprising considering he had poured it nearly 5 hours earlier. His head pounded as he looked up to see the clock on the wall chime three o'clock.

These days, it was hard to tell the difference between his near daily headaches and the once familiar twinge of his connection to Voldemort. He repeated his usual mantra to himself as he waved his wand and the papers on his desk rearranged themselves back into a neat stack: "He's dead. You killed him. It's done." But some memories were harder to shake than others.

Harry glanced down at the only 2 pictures on his desk. Next to his mother and father, he saw himself with Ginny, James, Albus, Lily, and Teddy, all smiles and laughing. He groaned as he stood up and pulled on his traveling cloak, feeling around in the pocket for a few crumbs of floo powder. The Hogwarts Express left at precisely 11 o'clock, and he was determined to get at least a couple hours of proper sleep before it was time to make the journey to King's Cross.

Harry's eyes strained against the pitch black darkness of his and Ginny's bedroom. He clumsily slipped off his robes and climbed into bed, focusing on the sound of Ginny's breathing as he quickly drifted back to sleep. It felt like mere minutes had passed when Ginny awoke him by opening the curtains, daylight harshly filling the comfortable and well-appointed room. Harry pulled the blanket over his face.

"I must say I was rather surprised to wake up and find you in our bed this morning," said Ginny softly. "It's been weeks since we had a proper night together. You know, most people would find it easy to ask for some time off if their boss was their best friend."

"Hermione already took a lot of flack for my promotion. The new Minister of Magic can't just go around handing out favors to her friends," Harry grunted, pulling down the blanket and covering his face with his hands. "Besides, you know her as well I as do. She'll tell me that I should've known what to expect taking such an important position."

Ginny sighed and laid down next to her husband, resting her head on his chest. "Everyone needs a break sometime, Harry. There's no shame in asking to spend a little alone time with your wife."

After the usual last minute scramble to pack long neglected school trunks, Harry and his family made their ways to King's Cross Station and platform 9 ¾ where, for the first time, all three of his children would board the Hogwarts Express. It was to be a bittersweet occasion, Harry thought to himself. Although he was glad that he would no longer be filling the role of mostly absent parent, he would miss impromptu Quidditch matches with James, Albus, and Teddy and teaching Lily to fly a broom. He could not believe how quickly time seemed to be passing these days.

Through the familiar clouds of white steam billowing from the train, he saw Ron and Hermione standing in the middle of the platform saying their goodbyes to Rose and Hugo, who looked as if they couldn't wait another minute to join their friends on the waiting train.

As the Potters moved to join them, it wasn't difficult to hear an all too familiar scene playing out.

"But Moooom, all my friends are already on the train! I don't see why everyone has to wait for them. They were just over for dinner last weekend!"

Rose, just like her best friend Albus, had unmistakably entered her teen years and a sappy goodbye in front of the whole school was the last thing she wanted. Ron and Hermione, apparently already expecting this, simply ignored her as they waved in response to Harry and Ginny's efforts to get their attention and Rose tried to pretend that she wanted nothing more than to spend the next three and a half months as far from London as she could hope to get.

"Good morning, Minister," said Ginny warmly as she moved to hug her sister-in-law. "Shall we release the prisoners?" She gave Rose a wink.

"Oh, alright. Run along. But first, I want to see your checklist. Last year you forgot half your books!" Hermione waved her wand and a too long piece of parchment flew out of Rose's back pocket and into her other hand. She quickly skimmed the list, seeing that all of the important boxes were checked and looked at her daughter with a smile. "Looks like you're free to go. Better hurry if you want to find an empty compartment!"

As they all said their goodbyes, Harry caught sight of another familiar face. Draco Malfoy had just stepped through the barrier, and despite his usual well-tailored appearance, Harry thought the best way to describe how he looked was…tired. Honestly, the last time he could remember Malfoy looking this bad, not that he had ever really put much thought into what Malfoy looked like, was their sixth year.

"Hey, Ron," Harry whispered as Ginny and Hermione squinted at the train, hoping to catch one last glimpse of the kids before the train pulled out of the station. "Check it out. What's up with Malfoy?"

"Honestly, mate, and here I thought I was the one always behind on the news." Ron stifled a laugh. "Malfoy and his wife split up a couple months back. Rita Skeeter was all over it in the Prophet."

"Christ sakes, are they still publishing that old hag? With her record it's just as likely they're planning a second honeymoon," Harry said a little more loudly than he had wanted. "Although, I suppose it is a little weird that he just walked onto the platform by himself. Scorpius must already be on the train, it's nearly eleven."

Ron took another step closer to Harry and said under his breath: "That's not all she wrote, either. Rumor on the street is that he's, well, you know…polishing his wand with the other hand, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, Ronald, you did always have such a way with words," Ginny chuckled, both of the men unaware that their wives had been listening to their entire exchange.

"Either way, the rumors must be true," Hermione added. "I overheard Blaise Zabini gossiping about it outside Madame Malkin's just last week. Apparently, Malfoy's been rather open about it since they split up. He's gay, Harry."

"Makes sense if you ask me. Always had a flare for drama, that one. And besides, it explains how he ended up with that pug-faced troll Parkinson when we were at Hogwarts. You'd had to have been a poofter to snog her, anyway," Ron said in a way that only he could.

Harry's thoughts trailed off. He couldn't say that he was particularly surprised, although he wondered why Malfoy had decided to wait until after he'd been married and had a son to change his lifestyle. As the others continued gossiping, Harry realized just a moment too late that he'd been staring at Malfoy for a bit too long. The other man had noticed him and when their eyes met, Harry gave him a polite nod and turned again to face his friends.

The next day, Harry returned to his office in the Ministry to find on top of the massive daily pile of letters and interdepartmental memos a small note on what appeared to be rather fine stationary. He picked it up and saw a delicate serpent embossed in the green wax sealing the parchment. He broke the seal and read:

 _Potter,_

 _I realize this is coming from out of the blue, but I never properly thanked you for what you did back at Hogwarts. I'd like to make it up to you. Meet me this Friday at the Leaky Cauldron at half-past eight and I'll buy you a drink._

 _Cordially,_

 _Draco Malfoy_


End file.
